[Great War] Autobiographies Anonymous

[seaJane]

On 28/06/2021 at 17:58, Dust Jacket Collector said:

Incomparable 29th & the ‘River Clyde’’. [....] I think there’s a free download somewhere.

There is: https://archive.org/details/theincomparablet25342gut

It doesn't work like the usual archive.org book but it can be downloaded via one of the links on the right.

sJ

Edited 29 June , 2021 by seaJane

[MaureenE]

If you want to read the above book online, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25342 which is the basis for the Archive.org downloads above.

Maureen

[Kath]

Just had this notification from goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55219786-sprinting-through-no-man-s-land?ref_=pe_3349310_590840800&rto=x_gr_e_nl_newreleases&utm_campaign=2021_07&utm_content=history_biography_1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=new_releases

 

[other ranker]

Black Maria, not a bad idea. I think I will start to jot something down in a good A4 book. It will be quite a thing to have after many years of jottings. I will have to start reading my library again though! Doh!

 

[Black Maria]

1 hour ago, other ranker said:

Black Maria, not a bad idea. I think I will start to jot something down in a good A4 book. It will be quite a thing to have after many years of jottings. I will have to start reading my library again though! Doh!

 

Yes , i wish i had thought of doing it sooner ! 

[Derek Black]

On 05/06/2021 at 16:32, Black Maria said:

when you keep coming across it and with no translation ( i usually can't be bothered to keep looking it up on-line ) but just guess what they're getting at . 

That bugs me too.
French phrases/sayings in books without a translation seem common in modern publications too.

[Black Maria]

On 01/07/2021 at 02:32, Derek Black said:

That bugs me too.
French phrases/sayings in books without a translation seem common in modern publications too.

That's disappointing to hear , thank God for Google i suppose . I suppose we had better get this thread back on track so here is a recent book that i enjoyed reading , it's the memoir of Richard Llewellyn Davies of the 3rd Monmouthshire regt and 9th R.W.F who first saw action at Frezenberg Ridge where he was badly wounded , he was again wounded twice in the battles of 1918 and finished the war as a corporal . Despite some errors i found the book detailed and quite poignant , Richard started writing the manuscript with his son in the fifties but it remained unfinished when he died in 1973 and his son completed it in the 2000s from rough notes Richard had left . 'Never So Innocent Again' pub 2014 .

[Marilyne]

On 29/06/2021 at 21:33, other ranker said:

With the volume of books everyone has gathered over the years, how do you remember the stories? Don't they all just merge? Does anyone make notes to leave in the book of their impressions to remind them?

I have SEVEN Leitz 9mm folders full of notes, some handwritten, other typed out... plus comments in what I call my "research diaries" which I've kept for over 10 years now and TWO separate ones for women's work and the girls I'm researching. I have decided now that my 3rd cycle is over that I want to put some order in that and am cataloging all those notes with key-words and a list of reference. I reckon it's going to take me a good year to finish all that. 

What can I say... Freak !! 

M. 

[Marilyne]

On 29/06/2021 at 23:17, Black Maria said:

 firstly to help me remember the details of the books i had read and secondly i was fed up with reviews t

 

I also keep a bibliography with all the books I have read, distinguishing those I own for real, those on Kindl and those I got from a library... with my comment on it, in a few lines. 

I have them in PDF file, so if you want to latest update, just thrown me a PM. 

M.

[Black Maria]

10 hours ago, Marilyne said:

I also keep a bibliography with all the books I have read, distinguishing those I own for real, those on Kindl and those I got from a library... with my comment on it, in a few lines. 

I have them in PDF file, so if you want to latest update, just thrown me a PM. 

M.

[WilliamRev]

I wrote: 'Thanks ALFBP for pointing out the existence of At Ypres with Best Dunkley by Thomas Hope Floyd.'

I ordered a copy on Amazon (£11-ish on Amazon, new hardback), and am currently reading it: although it only covers several months from May to July 1917, there are all sorts of usefuo and interesting details of a new subaltern learning to run a platoon. Well worth reading if a copy comes your way, although quite short for the price (155 pages).

William

[WilliamRev]

On the Western Front Association website I came across this simply fantastic review for a FWW memoir, Joffrey' War.

It was a title that has somehow escaped my notice, but I was dismayed to find that neither Amazon nor Abe Books (my usual sources) could not supply a copy. But I have found that the publisher, Salient Books, can supply copies in both paperback and hardback, and I have ordered a hardback copy. (Note that postage for both hardback and paperback is £3.50 to UK addresses, £6.20 abroad, which is not quite what the WFA review suggests).

William

[Black Maria]

It certainly is a great book , i wasn't aware that it was still available from the publishers . Here is the link to the thread about the book

 

[kenf48]

On 10/11/2014 at 22:17, WilliamRev said:

I have just finished reading "Nothing of Importance, a Record of Eight Months at the Front with a Welsh Battalion" by Bernard Adams. Someone, either on this thread or another on the forum, recommended it saying that it was his favourite WW1 memoir. Adams survived his eight months (Oct 1915 to June 1916 at the Somme), and was recovering from a bullet through his left arm when he wrote it back in Kent, listening to the soft rumble of guns on the wind from over the channel. Going back out to France in January 1917, he was fatally wounded on Feb 26th.

The book is poignant on that account, and, written and published whilst the war was still being waged, is blissfully free from the dull hindsight that makes some authors of memoirs written a decade or more after the war, start to sound like pub-bores with their well-worn rants about futility and Haig's butchery. It is genuinely well-written, and he often has a witty turn of phrase which makes one smile - whilst transporting the battalion by train: "the men were in those useful adaptable carriages inscribed 'Chevaux 10. Hommes 30.' Our Tommies were evidently a kind of centaur class, for they went in by twenties". He was a quiet, clever man, and this book leads one to think that he may have become a great writer, or great at something, had he survived the war.

At £10.47 for a 308 page paperback, on Amazon (Here), it isn't particularly cheap, but it is a wonderful book.

William

Available as a Kindle download for 99p - bargain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0193QHFRM?keywords=B0193QHFRM&geniuslink=true

Also not a biography but currently free Robin Neillands Old Contemtibles

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Contemptibles-Robin-Neillands-ebook/dp/B08CBFKD5S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=LCUT7VC07RVU&dchild=1&keywords=old contemptibles&qid=1626469479&sprefix=the old contemptibles ,aps,156&sr=8-2&geniuslink=true

Another good price 😉

You can download the Kindle app to your tablet etc

[MaureenE]

Also available on Archive.org (free), 1918 original edition.

"Nothing of Importance": Eight Months at the Front with a Welsh Battalion by Bernard Adams 

[MartyG]

55 minutes ago, MaureenE said:

Also available on Archive.org (free), 1918 original edition.

"Nothing of Importance": Eight Months at the Front with a Welsh Battalion by Bernard Adams 

 

11 hours ago, kenf48 said:

Available as a Kindle download for 99p - bargain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0193QHFRM?keywords=B0193QHFRM&geniuslink=true

Also not a biography but currently free Robin Neillands Old Contemtibles

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Contemptibles-Robin-Neillands-ebook/dp/B08CBFKD5S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=LCUT7VC07RVU&dchild=1&keywords=old contemptibles&qid=1626469479&sprefix=the old contemptibles ,aps,156&sr=8-2&geniuslink=true

Another good price 😉

You can download the Kindle app to your tablet etc

Thanks for the tip re Bernard Adams’ book, I shall away post haste to add this to my Kindle library 

I may be wrong, but I think that Old Contemptibles is only “free” if you take out a  Kindle Unlimited subscription.

Funnily enough, however, while I was browsing the above title in the Kindle store, I came across With the Old Contemptibles by Aubrey Herbert and Frederic Coleman, also for the princely sum of 99p - would anyone recommend this? 

Martin
 

[MaureenE]

3 hours ago, MartyG said:

 

Funnily enough, however, while I was browsing the above title in the Kindle store, I came across With the Old Contemptibles by Aubrey Herbert and Frederic Coleman, also for the princely sum of 99p - would anyone recommend this? 

Martin
 

With the Old Contemptibles appears most likely to be extracts/perhaps the entire relevant parts    of the two books, both available on Archive.org with downloads available.

Mons, Anzac and Kut by an MP [Aubrey Herbert] 1919 Archive.org.

 

From Mons to Ypres with French : a personal narrative by Frederic Coleman. 1916 Archive.org. Published in London. Contains illustrations but missing at least first page of the Preface. USA title From Mons to Ypres with General French: a Personal Narrative by Frederic Coleman. 1916 Archive.org. Edition without illustrations. He was a part of the RAC Contingent, who volunteered with his own car.

Maureen

[MartyG]

6 minutes ago, MaureenE said:

With the Old Contemptibles appears most likely to be extracts/perhaps the entire relevant parts    of the two books, both available on Archive.org with downloads available.

Mons, Anzac and Kut by an MP [Aubrey Herbert] 1919 Archive.org.

 

From Mons to Ypres with French : a personal narrative by Frederic Coleman. 1916 Archive.org. Published in London. Contains illustrations but missing at least first page of the Preface. USA title From Mons to Ypres with General French: a Personal Narrative by Frederic Coleman. 1916 Archive.org. Edition without illustrations. He was a part of the RAC Contingent, who volunteered with his own car.

Maureen

Ah, most kind, thank you for that Maureen 

Martin

[MartyG]

On my Amazon adventure this morning I’ve also picked up Aubrey Smith’s Four Years On The Western Front, previously published under the title A Rifleman.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Four-Years-Western-Front-November-ebook/dp/B07B46Q5W1/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1626870838&sr=8-1

Many reviews mention the spelling and grammatical errors that abound in the Kindle edition, but I think it a small price to pay (99p!) for what looks like a fascinating and lengthy read.

[MartyG]

15 hours ago, kenf48 said:

Available as a Kindle download for 99p - bargain

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0193QHFRM?keywords=B0193QHFRM&geniuslink=true

 

I found it most amusing, nay irritating, when perusing some of the reviews for this book on Amazon, which criticise the author for being snobby and aloof and for treating people like servants. What do these folk not understand about a book clearly of its time, that when it was written that was how things were? 

Applying 21st Century attitudes to a book obviously written in the early 20th just seems ridiculous to me, but perhaps I’m getting old.

Martin
 

[Marilyne]

On 20/07/2021 at 22:49, kenf48 said:

Also not a biography but currently free Robin Neillands Old Contemtibles

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Contemptibles-Robin-Neillands-ebook/dp/B08CBFKD5S/ref=sr_1_2?crid=LCUT7VC07RVU&dchild=1&keywords=old contemptibles&qid=1626469479&sprefix=the old contemptibles ,aps,156&sr=8-2&geniuslink=true

Another good price 😉

 

4.99€ at the moment... Take it or leave it?? What's your opinion on it?? 

Just bouth "with the Old Contemptibles"... the 2 in 1 on kindl for 1.60€... am I glad I'm riding the train to work nowadays... looooots of time! !

M.

Edited 27 July , 2021 by Marilyne

[kenf48]

1 hour ago, Marilyne said:

Take it or leave it?? What's your opinion on it?? 

Not read it. 

I have read a couple of his other books, best described as 'popular history', not a criticism readable and well researched but covers fairly familiar ground. No longer with us, he died in 2006 his writing probably reflects his generation.

[Marilyne]

On 27/07/2021 at 13:38, kenf48 said:

Not read it. 

I have read a couple of his other books, best described as 'popular history', not a criticism readable and well researched but covers fairly familiar ground. No longer with us, he died in 2006 his writing probably reflects his generation.

Thanks. 

I've downloaded the free preview... we'll see ... 

M.

[WilliamRev]

Several years ago, in my search for 3rd Division memoirs, I read of The Phantom Brigade by A.P.G. Vivian, but second-hand copies were pricey - the cheapest I could find online was £178 for what is a slim volume - so I gave it a miss and forgot about it. However I recently discovered that within the last couple a years a paperback reprint had become available, and I purchased one from Amazon for £11.50. (Link: HERE)

Vivian was a Lance Corporal in the 4th Middlesex Regiment, 3rd Division, and the book covers the first few weeks of the war, from 3 August-3 September 1914, when Vivian had some interesting adventures, ending with his wounding. (He later returned and served as an officer in the RFC/RAF,  but that is not covered by this brief 250 page book). It is nicely written, and is a highly-readable jolly romp; I particularly liked the description of the Reservists first arriving at the barracks in early August, mostly staggering in paralytically drunk, which is a refreshing (and I am sure truthful) account after all those tales of keen Reservists flooding in, bright-eyed and thirsty for action, which appear in regimental histories. However, one never doubts the book's authenticity. and for a feeling of the early days of the war I highly recommend it.

William

Edited 2 May , 2023 by WilliamRev

[Dust Jacket Collector]

3 hours ago, WilliamRev said:

Several years ago, in my search for 3rd Division memoirs, I read of The Phantom Brigade by A.P.G. Vivian, but second-hand copies were pricey - the cheapest I could find online was £178 for what is a slim volume - so I gave it a miss and forgot about it. However I recently discovered that within the last couple a years a paperback reprint had become available, and I purchased one from Amazon for £11.50. (Link: HERE)

Vivian was a Lance Corporal in the 4th Middlesex Regiment, 3rd Division, and the book covers the first few weeks of the war, from 3 August-3 September 1914, when Vivian had some interesting adventures, ending with his wounding. (He later returned and served as an officer in the RFC/RAF,  but that is not covered by this brief 250 page book). It is nicely written, and is a highly-readable jolly romp; I particularly liked the description of the Reservist first arriving at the barracks in early August, mostly staggering in paralytically drunk, which is a refreshing (and I am sure truthful) account after all those tales of keen reservists flooding in, bright-eyed and thirsty for action, which appear in regimental histories. However, one never doubts the book's authenticity. and for a feeling of the early days of the war I highly recommend it.

William

A fine book & particularly so in its striking jacket.